Independent Senator Fidelma Healy Eames said it is “political correctness gone mad” that she is the only female member of the Oireachtas campaigning for a ‘No’ vote in the Marriage Equality Referendum.

Independent Senator Fidelma Healy Eames said it is “political correctness gone mad” that she is the only female member of the Oireachtas campaigning for a ‘No’ vote in the Marriage Equality Referendum.

Independent Senator Fidelma Healy Eames said it is “political correctness gone mad” that she is the only female member of the Oireachtas campaigning for a ‘No’ vote in the Marriage Equality Referendum.

She said, if the referendum passes on Friday, Ireland will be the only country in the world to enact same sex marriage through a popular vote.

“In all other countries when it has been passed it has been through the legislator, which means it can be amended if everything goes wrong. A popular vote of the people is almost impossible to reverse,” she said.

Mothers and Fathers Matter spokeswoman Eileen King called on the electorate to reject the referendum so it can be scrutinised further by the Oireachtas.

“The real question for people on Friday is whether we should reject his referendum now so that it will give us an opportunity to find a way to give same sex marriage couples the constitutional right they require, they would like, without redefining marriage,” Ms Kind said.

“We need to ask ourselves why did we not have an Oireachtas inquiry at the start, no public hearing, no working group. For the No campaign it is essential that people take time to consider this. And we really feel that the best way forward is to reject this referendum so it will give us an opportunity to deal with these issues properly,” she added.